The ADF Liturgist Guild Study Program

Official Guide to the Third Circle

Introduction

Welcome to the Third Circle of the Liturgist Guild Study Program! By the end of this course of study, you will be considered a fully-trained ADF Liturgist.

The Third Circle has six required courses and two electives.

Submission Requirements

Most of the exit standards are text-based answers, requiring a short essay.Most of the exit standards are text-based answers, requiring a short essay. If no word count minimum appears, assume that there is no minimum word count, but ensure that your answers to the questions completely answer the standard as written. Some standards, however, will require you to submit audio or video files, particularly Theatre for Ritual 2.

Exit standards that include audio clips may be submitted electronically or via tape, CD, or other recordable media. Electronic formats of .wav and .mp3 are acceptable; though if you would prefer to submit a different format, please contact the Liturgist Guild Preceptor to determine if it is acceptable (the ability of the LG Preceptor to play the file is the primary determinant here). Any audio clip may also be submitted as a video clip if you prefer. Please see the next paragraph regarding video clips if you choose to go that route.

Exit standards that include video clips may not be submitted via e-mail, but may be submitted via a file hosting site or video hosting site such as YouTube; or via VHS tape, on CD, on DVD or other recordable media. Electronic formats of .mov and .wmv are acceptable; though if you would prefer to submit a different format, please contact the Liturgist Guild Preceptor to determine if it is acceptable (the ability of the LG Preceptor to play the file is the primary determinant here).

Required Courses
  • Comparative Ritual Theory
  • Designed to introduce the student to a variety of theories of comparison, ritual studies, and applications of those studies, students will be encouraged to critically examine their own liturgical work and the liturgical work of others.
  • Culture Specific Ritual
  • Because ADF is Indo-European in focus, and the membership (and leadership) of ADF is likely to call upon our trained Liturgists for expertise even outside their own hearth culture, this course focuses on training Liturgists in ways to make liturgies more culturally appropriate.
  • Liturgy Practicum 3: Large Group Practice
  • Focusing on rituals of 20 or more participants, this course requires work at an ADF festival as well as rituals for non-ADF audiences.
  • Special Occasion Rituals
  • Ritual is not only about High Days and cycles of the seasons, but also about the people who make up our congregations and the trying and joyful times of their lives. This course seeks not only to inform the Liturgist about common rites of passage, but also about rites that might be encountered in the living of our religion.
  • Theatre for Ritual 2
  • Continuing the work in Theatre for Ritual 1, this course goes beyond the basics and delves deeper into the performance aspects of ritual.
  • Teaching Ritual Performance
  • Because a Liturgist is expected to direct others in ritual, this course is designed to offer the basic tools that will allow our Liturgists to build creative ritual and communicate effective performance methods, even during times when preparation is minimal and new performers are required.
  • Plus any 2 Electives different than elective done for the 2nd Circle.
Electives (two of the following)
  • Divination 2
  • Aspects of divination as they apply in ritual, as well as differences between private and public ritual are included in this course.
  • General Bardic Studies 1
  • Understanding the forms of ancient bardic arts and applying them are important to any Liturgist. This course covers these basics.
  • Indo-European Language 1
  • An ADF Liturgist should be able to make herself understood to the powers of her Hearth Culture. IE Language 1 offers an introduction to an IE language.
  • Indo-European Mythology 2
  • This course covers a variety of mythic themes useful to an ADF Liturgist. This course is strongly recommended for Third Circle Liturgists.
  • Magic 2
  • Magical applications and theory are covered in this course, including the use of magic within ADF’s ritual structure.
  • Trance 2
  • Practical work guiding a group into trancework, as well as helping the Liturgist learn more about her own inner landscapes and the landscapes of the Worlds, are the foci of this very hands-on course.
Recommended Resources

Some courses have resources which will be very helpful, though they are not necessarily required for all courses. They are listed below:

  • Grimes, Ronald. Readings in Ritual Studies. (ISBN: 0023472537) This book has many of the recommended readings for the courses Special Occasion Rituals and Comparative Ritual Theory, which will help you obtain a number of recommended readings without purchasing individual books and publications.
  • Pals, Daniel L. Eight Theories of Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2006. Also marketed as "Seven Theories on Religion" (before the eighth theorist was added; this previous edition is also acceptable for this course of study), this book gives a very good overview of a number of religious thinkers, and offers both their strengths and criticisms in a very frank manner.
  • A subscription to JStor or access to an academic library. A number of resources throughout are articles in journals or anthologies that are difficult to find without certain access. While every effort has been made not to base questions specifically on difficult to find sources, the sources recommended will help answer the questions.

Comparative Ritual Theory

Designed to introduce the student to a variety of theories of comparison, ritual studies, and applications of those studies, students will be encouraged to critically examine their own liturgical work and the liturgical work of others.

This course is built around the idea that theory regarding ritual and religion can be (and has been) applied to work within ADF, whether it is applied tothe personal experience of ADF, or the general method of doing “ADF-style” rituals. A number of academic (as well as sociological, economic, and feminist, to name a few) theories can be applied, and this course hopes to introduce the student to several of these theories in order to ensure a rounded, open approach to ritual studies.

We hope that by the end of this course, our students will have not only a better understanding of why we do things like we do in ADF, but also why they do things as individuals, and what our rituals really mean to them.

Primary Goal

The primary goal of this course is for students to engage in a comparative study of ritual, drawn on academic scholarship.

Course Objectives

  1. Students will explore methods of comparison and how these methods have affected ADF's growth.
  2. Students will compare scholars' theories regarding ritual.
  3. Students will use the theories learned to examine ADF practice and their own ritual work, and to compare ADF practice to other traditions.

Resources

Required
  • Grimes, Ronald. Readings in Ritual Studies ISBN: 0023472537
  • Pals, Daniel L. Eight Theories of Religion. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press. 2006
  • Two of the recommended texts (choices must be from different authors)
Recommended
  • Campany, Robert F. "Xunzi and Drukheim as Theorists of Ritual Practice." Discourse and Practice Ed. Reyholds and Tracy. Albany: SUNY. 1992. (also available in Grimes, Ronald. Readings in Ritual Studies ISBN: 0023472537)
  • Driver, Tom F. "Transformation: The Magic of Ritual." The Magic of Ritual: Our Need for Liberating Rites that Transform Our Lives and Communities. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco. 1991. pp. 166-191, 247-248. (also available in Grimes, Ronald. Readings in Ritual Studies ISBN: 0023472537)
  • Durkheim, Emile. "Ritual, Magic, and the Sacred." The Elementary Froms of the Religious Life: A Study in Religous Sociology. 1915. (also available in Grimes, Ronald. Readings in Ritual Studies ISBN: 0023472537)
  • Eliade, Mircea. Myth and Reality. Trans. Trask, Willard. New York, NY: Harper & Row. 1975
  • Eliade, Mircea. The Myth of the Eternal Return: Cosmos and History. PrincetonUniversity Press. 2005
  • Eliade, Mircea. The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion. Trans. Trask, Willard. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace & Co. 1987
  • Freud, Sigmund. Civilization and its Discontents. ed./trans. Strachey, James. College Edition. W.W. Norton & Co., New York, 1962.
  • Freud, Sigmund. The Future of an Illusion. ed./trans. Strachey, James. Standard Edition. W.W. Norton & Co., New York, 1989.
  • Freud, Sigmund. "Obsessive Actions and Religious Practices." The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. HarperCollins. 1959. (also available in Grimes, Ronald. Readings in Ritual Studies ISBN: 0023472537)
  • Grimes, Ronald L. "Jonathan Z. Smith’s Theory of Ritual Space." Religion 29, 261–273 (July 1999)
  • Grimes, Ronald L. "Ritual Criticism and Infelicious Performances." Ritual Criticism: Case Studies in Its Pracrice, Essays on Its Theory. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. 1990. pp. 210-216, 191-95, 199-209, 243-244. (also available in Grimes, Ronald. Readings in Ritual Studies ISBN: 0023472537)
  • Geertz, Clifford, ed. Myth, Symbol, and Culture. New York, NY: Norton & Co. 1971
  • Huizinga, J. Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. 1955.
  • James, William. The Varieties of Religious Experience. New York, NY: Penguin. 1985
  • Levi-Strauss, Claude. "The Effectiveness of Symbols." Structural Anthropology. Trans. Jacobson and Schoepf. Garden City, NJ: Anchor. 1967. pp. 181-201. (also available in Grimes, Ronald. Readings in Ritual Studies ISBN: 0023472537)
  • Marx, Karl, and Fredrich Engles. Marx and Engels on Religion. Introduced by Reinhold Niebuhr. Schocken Books, New York. 1964
  • Rappaport, Roy A. "The Obvious Aspects of Ritual." Ecology, Meaning, and Religion. Berkley, CA: North Atlanitc. 1979. pp. 175-180, 188-195, 197-200, 208-214, 216-221. (also available in Grimes, Ronald. Readings in Ritual Studies ISBN: 0023472537)
  • Schechner, Richard. "Restoration of Behavior." Between Theatre and Anthropology. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press. 1985. pp. 35-44, 55-65, 107-116. (also available in Grimes, Ronald. Readings in Ritual Studies ISBN: 0023472537)
  • Smith, Jonathan Z. (Zittell). "The Bare Facts of Ritual." Imagining Religion: From Baylon to Jonestown. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1982. pp. 53-65, 143-145. (also available in Grimes, Ronald. Readings in Ritual Studies ISBN: 0023472537)
  • Staal, Frits. "The Meaninglessness of Ritual." Numen 26(1). 1979. p. 2-22. (also available in Grimes, Ronald. Readings in Ritual Studies ISBN: 0023472537)
Suggested
  • Bell, Catherine. Ritual: perspectives and dimensions. New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 1997.
  • Bell, Catherine. Ritual theory, ritual practice. New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 1992.
  • Bell, Catherine. Teaching ritual. Oxford; New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 2007.
  • Carruba, Onofrio. "Searching for Woman in Anatolian and Indo-European." Perspectives on Indo-European Language, Culture, and Religion: Studies in Honour of Edgar C. Polome (Vol. 1) McLean, VA: Journal of Indo-European Studies. 1991

Exit Standards

I: Methods of Comparison
  1. Explain the difference between "reductionist" theories of ritual comparison and "anti-reductionist" theories. (min. 200 words)
  2. In your opinion, in what ways has the academic study of religion affected ADF's ritual structure? (100 words min.)
II: Methods of Ritual Study
  1. The recommended reading list offers many different writings by and about theorists of ritual and religion. Select two differenttheoristscovered by the recommended reading list, and read one of the sources listed by or about each of them. Summarize their arguments about ritual, describe where they differ, and explain which argument is more applicable in your view, as well as why you feel it is more applicable. (no min. word count)
  2. The study of ritual often indicates that religion is a "problem to be solved." How does this aspect of ritual studies affect your experience of ritual? (min. 150 words)
III: Applications
  1. Choose a single heading in the ADF Core Order of Ritual and explain why this part of the ritual was included in the way it was, and in the place it was, using the theories of one of the theorists listed above as the basis of your argument. (no min. word count)
  2. Provide a description of a ritual that went very well (in your opinion). Drawing on at least two theorists you have read for this course, explain why this ritual went well. (150 words for description, 200 words for explanation)
  3. Provide a description of a ritual that went very poorly (in your opinion). Drawing on at least two theorists you have read for this course, explain why this ritual went poorly. (150 words for description, 200 words for explanation)
  4. Attend two rituals from different religions (neither of these religions may be a Neo-Pagan religion). Compose a research paper comparing these two rituals (or aspects of them) to all or part of the ADF Core Order of Ritual, using the tools learned in this course. (min. 2500 words)

Culture Specific Ritual

Because ADF is Indo-European in focus, and the membership (and leadership) of ADF is likely to call upon our trained Liturgists for expertise even outside their own hearth culture, this course focuses on training Liturgists in ways to make liturgies more culturally appropriate. It will focus on both the importance and practice of working in multiple hearth cultures.

Primary Goal

The primary goal of this course is for students to enhance their understanding of culturally specific ritual, including cultures beyond their own hearth.

Course Objectives

  1. Students will increase their awareness of other cultures and explain why cultural focus is important.
  2. Students will write rituals in several cultural foci, and will explore mixing hearth cultures within a single rite.

Exit Standards

  1. Explain why cultural focus is important to consider when writing liturgy. (min 150 words)
  2. Describe how you would establish the Center in ritual from three different Indo-European cultural perspectives. (min 100 words per culture)
  3. Write a ritual based on ADF's Core Order of Ritual for a culturally-specific High Day. The ritual may be solitary or group-oriented. (no min. word count)
  4. Write a COoR ritual in a cultural focus that you do not commonly practice in. (no min. word count)
  5. Discuss methods of applying the Kindreds and mythic themes of multiple IE hearth cultures in the same ritual (min. 200 words)
  6. Write a COoR ritual involving Kindreds and mythic themes from two or more hearth cultures from different branches of the Indo-European language family. (no min. word count)

Liturgy Practicum 3: Large Group Practice

Liturgy Practicum 3 is designed to focus on large group practices, both within and outside of ADF. In order to pass this course, you will be required to lead a ritual at a festival, and this ritual must be large enough to pose some of the usual problems that large rites create. Because part of ADF's vision is to provide publically accessible worship, even to those who are not part of ADF, this course will require that you perform a ritual for a generally non-ADF-centric function as well.

You may contact the Liturgists Guild Preceptor to help you arrange to lead a festival ritual if you are a Second Circle Liturgist. This course cannot be submitted until you have completed the Second Circle.

Rituals completing the exit standards of this coursemay not be performed more than three years before the submission date of this course for grading. The Liturgists Guild Preceptor will require some form of verification that the ritual took place and included the requisite number of attendees.

Primary Goal

The primary goal of this course is for students to provide worship opportunities to the community and develop experience running large group rituals.

Course Objectives

  1. Students will increase their awareness of how ritual elements, such as creating group mind, developing effective prayers utilizing techniques such as motion, dance, music etc., and the use of physical offerings enhance small group ritual.
  2. Students will lead rituals both within ADF and outside of it.

Exit Standards

  1. Explain how you can incorporate words, motion, dance, posture, music, and gesture in a public, large group ritual. How is including each one in large group ritual different from how they are included in a) individual/domestic ritual and b) small group ritual? (Minimum 50 words per item, and minimum 150 additional words for comparison)
  2. Write and lead a ritual with an attendance of more than 20 at an ADF Festival. Submit a) your script for that ritual, b) video of the rite, and c) an evaluation of the ritual in terms of structure (how the ritual flowed) and function (what was accomplished). Contact the Preceptor in advance to arrange for verification of performance. (Minimum 300 words for evaluation)
  3. Write and lead a ritual with an attendance of more than 20 at a non-ADF function, such as a Pagan Pride Day, a non-ADF Pagan festival, or other function. Submit a) your script for that ritual, b) video of the rite, and c) an evaluation of the ritual in terms of structure (how the ritual flowed) and function (what was accomplished). Contact the Preceptor in advance to arrange for verification of performance. (Minimum 300 words for evaluation)

Special Occasion Rituals

This course was designed to expand a student’s knowledge and experiences for liturgical development beyond high day liturgy and specifically targets the development of liturgy for use in everyday life for a variety of different purposes.Completing Special Occasion Rituals for the Clergy Training Program will count as completing this course.

Note: If the rituals developed for this course may be used on the ADF website, please include a note in your submission.

Primary Goal

The primary goal of this course is for students to enhance their skills for developing special occasion liturgy to meet the needs of individuals and groups occurring within every day life.

Course Objectives

  1. Students will identify, define and analyze several types of special occasion ritual and compare special occasion ritual to high day ritual.
  1. Students will increase their knowledge of creating ritual for diverse audiences.
  1. Students will utilize their knowledge and skills for liturgical writing to create special occasion rituals for a variety of different purposes.

Resources

  • Bynum, Caroline Walker. "Women's Stories, Women's Symbols: A Critique of Victor Turner's Theory of Liminality." Anthropology and the Study of Religion. 1984. pp 105-125 (also available in Grimes, Ronald. Readings in Ritual Studies ISBN: 0023472537)
  • Cole, Donna M. Last Minute Liturgies: Creating Prayerful Responses to the Unexpected. San Jose, CA: Resource Publications, Inc. 2003
  • Davis-Floyd, Robbie E. "Ritual in the Hospital: Giving Birth the American Way." Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology. Ed. Sradle and Mccurdy. New York: Harper Collins. 1993. (also available in Grimes, Ronald. Readings in Ritual Studies ISBN: 0023472537)
  • Gennep, Arnold van. The rites of passage. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. 1960 (key sections of this reading selection are also available in Grimes, Ronald. Readings in Ritual Studies ISBN: 0023472537)
  • Gill, Sam D. "Disenchantment: A Religious Abduction." Native American Religious Action: A Performance Approach to Religion. USC: Columbia, SC. 1987. (also available in Grimes, Ronald. Readings in Ritual Studies ISBN: 0023472537)
  • Grimes, Ronald L. Deeply Into the Bone: Re-Invtenting Rites of Passage. University of California Press, 2002.
  • Grimes, Ronald L. Marrying & burying: rites of passage in a man's life. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995.
  • Lincoln, Bruce. Emerging From the Chrysalis: Studies in Rituals of Women's Initiation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981.
  • Parca, Maryline. Finding Persephone: Women's Rituals in the Ancient Mediterranean. Indiana University Press. 2007
  • Turner, Victor. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. Aldine Publishing: Chicago, IL. 1969. (Particularly chapters 3-5) (large amounts of this reading selection are also available in Grimes, Ronald. Readings in Ritual Studies ISBN: 0023472537)

Exit Standards